We Don't Have to be Enemies
by Faux Identity
Summary: Pet Shop has been stalking Iggy for nearly a week now, and finally has him beneath his talons. Iggy no longer has the energy to fight back. Pet Shop can easily take him out. So why is he conflicted?


**Author Note and Spoilers: Now, for those of you that haven't played Eyes of Heaven, this story may not make much sense. I'll try my best to explain. This is taking into account that at the end of Eyes of Heaven, the timeline is different in that pretty much everyone survived. Seeing as how they're alive, certain fights definitely played out differently. This is how both Iggy and Pet Shop are alive. Surely if the protagonists are alive, some dead villains are as well. It's just based on the assumption that Iggy and Pet Shop's battle could've played out differently. I hope that made enough sense.**

Never did Iggy think he'd encounter that bird again. Nor was he any more ready to fight him, even after the first time. He'd left Pet Shop battered and wounded, but alive. He was above killing him. He wasn't a psychopath like Pet Shop was. But maybe, in hindsight, he should've.

Pet Shop had come out of nowhere, and was much angrier than before. Iggy didn't have anywhere to go. He could've gone inside, but then he would've had to fight Pet Shop in close quarters. He had to stand his ground and fight, no pun intended. But, in the end, that didn't work out.

He could barely defeat Pet Shop the first time. Now Pet Shop was ready for him. The fight didn't last long at all, almost in the blink of an eye. When Iggy realized what had happened, he was sitting against a wall. He couldn't remember if he'd been thrown against it or not. He'd been thrown around quite a bit.

Through his blurred vision, he could see the silhouette of Pet Shop land in front of him. He couldn't see Pet Shop's eyes yet, but he knew the bird was staring him down. Iggy could barely move. If he had time, he could recover enough to run. Maybe escape for a short while. He didn't have that time though. Pet Shop was just inches away from him. Iggy knew that this was the end of the battle, and as a result, the end of his life.

Pet Shop had searched hard for this dog. He couldn't live down his humiliating defeat by the mutt. As soon as he recovered from his injuries, he set out to locate and destroy Iggy. Pet Shop knew DIO was dead, but still felt the need to carry out his duties for him until he killed the last intruder of DIO's castle(that he knew of anyway). He'll only be satisfied when he finally gets to see the life drain from the dog's eyes.

It took a long time to find Iggy. Longer than Pet Shop could remember. After learning where Iggy was, Pet Shop stalked him for several days, learning more about him in an attempt to gain the upper hand. He'd already known what Iggy could do in battle, but he needed to know how Iggy thought too.

Pet Shop had lost because Iggy outsmarted him. Not this time. Not again. He easily overpowered the dog and finally had him where he wanted him.

Six days ago, Pet Shop watched Iggy walk about in a park. It took every bit of power in his being not to swoop down and attack. He knew better. He had to be careful this time.

The first day though, Pet Shop learned next to nothing. All Iggy did was walk about interacting with other dogs and chasing smaller animals. In one case even attacking a bothersome human.

Pet Shop felt almost humiliated. This is his enemy? Just a bratty mutt? How could THIS have outsmarted him.

Pet Shop was infuriated, not at Iggy now, but himself. He knew deep down how he was outsmarted. Because he didn't plan ahead at all. He just attacked with one goal in mind, to kill his target. In the end, this "strategy" was his downfall. But we all learn from our losses, even birds.

At night the next day, Pet Shop observed Iggy through a window. The dog was resting comfortably inside. Pet Shop thought just for a moment that he could sneak in now and kill Iggy while he slept. Then he realized killing the dog so easily would leave a bad taste in his mouth. No, he wanted to fight him. A true rematch.

He continued to stare for quite some time, eventually trailing off in thought. He was getting sleepy too, but he knew he couldn't sleep here. Iggy may wake up and see him on the tree branch. Iggy likely would jump at the chance to land a sneak attack on him. He couldn't take that chance.

After a few hours, Pet Shop decided it may be best to leave for now. Iggy clearly wasn't going to wake up soon. He prepared to fly off when he caught Iggy rustling about a bit. He stopped and cautiously stepped to the side so he wasn't in plain view. Iggy yawned and tiredly looked about.

Pet Shop relaxed and thought that Iggy had just woken up for a short time and would quickly go back to sleep. But Iggy didn't immediately lie down, rather he leaned forward a bit and began licking his crotch. How disgusting, Pet Shop thought. Why do dogs insist on licking themselves and eating garbage? Who knows. They're just naturally abhorrent.

Pet Shop wanted to avert his eyes, but oddly enough, continued to stare at Iggy licking. As gross as it was, he was somewhat transfixed. But he didn't know why...

He'd had that nightmare again. Iggy woke up late into the night from a reoccurring nightmare he'd been having after his adventure with the Stardust Crusaders had ended. Nearly every night, he'd dream of his fight against Pet Shop.

He didn't want to fight the bird, but he was left no choice. "He would've killed me..." Iggy tried to reason with himself. But he still couldn't shake the moment off. He nearly died that day. Pet Shop was relentless.

Somehow he'd been able to fool Pet Shop and gain the upper hand, and delivered a powerful blow to him. Pet Shop couldn't fight anymore afterwards. Iggy could see that Pet Shop wasn't mortally wounded and would recover. But then what? What if he came after him again?

No, that's ridiculous. Pet Shop would never be able to find out where he was. But...what if he did? Iggy struggled internally for what felt like hours over whether or not to finish his predator. Finally, he managed to decide, and let Pet Shop live. He was better than him. He wasn't out for blood.

That was how things worked out in reality, but in his dreams, one of two. Things happened. Sometimes, Pet Shop was much too strong for him. He'd beaten and injured him beyond saving, and in his final moments saw the bird looming over him. He felt cold. He could feel ice engulfing him. Soon he couldn't move, and Pet Shop lunged forward to do him in.

The second outcome was closer to reality. In this version, he'd beaten Pet Shop just like he did in the past. But in the final moments he instead decided to kill the bird. It wasn't messy, it was quick. He'd used The Fool to snap Pet Shop's neck to kill him quickly.

Tonight, he dreamt the second outcome. He knew that killing him wouldn't have been wrong, yet he felt a sort of disgust for what he'd done in the dream. How could he have killed an opponent who could no longer fight back? He wasn't above killing while fighting. But in Pet Shop's case, he'd already won.

Would killing him then had made him just as bad as Pet Shop was? Iggy hadn't realized, but he instinctively began licking himself while thinking about this dream. Often when thinking about it, he'd trail off and not realize what he was doing.

Sometimes Iggy had wondered if Pet Shop was really as horrible as he'd seemed. Pet Shop was crazy. There's no debating that. But why had he ended up that way? Was it his upbringing? Could he have been different? If so, under different circumstances, Iggy felt Pet Shop would've made a good ally.

As Iggy continued licking, out of the corner of his eye he saw something shift on the branch outside his window. He woke up from his daze and looked directly at the window. Nothing. Just a branch. "Probably just a bird..." He thought. "A...bird...? No, it couldn't be. It's probably just a normal bird or maybe even nothing at all..."

That had been a close call. Iggy's senses were somewhat sharp despite his sleepiness it seemed. Pet Shop had just barely moved out of view in time. He wanted to peak through the window just a bit more, but knew Iggy was watching.

That was enough for the night, he decided. He needed to get some rest to effectively continue his surveillance of his enemy. Pet Shop took flight and landed in another tree further from the house Iggy was in.

He'd lost a lot of sleep needlessly watching Iggy sleep. Why had he done that? Pet Shop wondered to himself why he was even watching the dog at all at this hour. Surely he knew Iggy was asleep by now?

In fact, he did. He knew very well Iggy would not be awake, and that there'd be nothing worthwhile to observe. And yet he'd watched Iggy sleep anyway. Pet Shop decided it wasn't worth thinking too much about. He still had all the time in the world to plan his attack. Iggy didn't seem like he was going anywhere any time soon. Pet Shop tried to relax, and after some time, fell asleep.

From then on, every day Pet Shop watched Iggy closely. Wherever Iggy went, Pet Shop was not far behind. He hadn't learned much about his enemy. All he could see was that Iggy was a normal dog with an attitude. Someone whose bark was worse than his bite.

Every night though, Pet Shop again had found himself watching the dog sleep. He couldn't resist staring at Iggy peacefully sleeping the night away. He wondered to himself why he kept this up. There was nothing to learn in the night time. He had no reason to watch Iggy now. But he did anyway, and did so for hours at a time.

On the final night, Pet Shop had decided he'd gotten as much information as he could possible acquire from Iggy's day to day life. Tomorrow, he'd use his experience in battle against his enemy as well as what he now knew of the dog's personality to finish what he'd started. As soon as Iggy was alone, he'd charge in for the kill.

Pet Shop stared down at his defeated rival. It had worked. All of his time spent observing him had worked! Pet Shop grasped Iggy's chest with his right foot, digging his talons into his foe's chest and drawing blood. Iggy cringed from the pain and grunted through his heavy breathing.

This was it. Pet Shop had beaten him into submission, making sure not to kill him in the process. Iggy was injured, but he'd live. The same position Iggy had him in some time ago. Pet Shop wouldn't be so merciful though. All he had to do was deliver one, cold blow with his ice, and the deed would be done.

Pet Shop could see Iggy was finally coming to. He leaned in, to stare at Iggy eye to eye. Iggy's vision cleared just enough to see this, and he froze. He stared, terrified into Pet Shop's eyes. His stare was as cold as the ice he used to fight with.

He was too scared to move. He knew for a fact now that there would be no possible way to escape. All he could do was brace for his imminent death. Pet Shop continued to stare. He wanted tried to think of several ways to end Iggy. He could tear out his eyes, and beat him to death. He could impale him with his ice and watch him quickly bleed out. He could rip him open and watch him struggle to hold his organs inside, and die curled up in a ball. There was any number of ways to do it. Yet, he couldn't decide.

He was almost hesitant to do it at all. Iggy had been the only opponent to defeat him before. He was strong. Iggy had the potential to kill him. But he was too weak to do it. Or did Iggy just pity him? He would likely never have to fight someone such as this, human or animal. Someone who could match him in a fight.

Pet Shop had killed for the bloodshed. It was what drove him. But fighting someone such as this was different. It felt good somehow. Pet Shop didn't want to kill Iggy. No, he'd come all this way. He'd spent so much time working for this. He HAD to kill Iggy. It was now or never.

He knew he'd been staring long enough for Iggy to gain some energy, he had to kill him now before Iggy tried to fight back again. Pet Shop opened his beak. He no longer cared how he was going to do it. There was no time to decide. Pet Shop closed his eyes and drove his head forward. Iggy cried out in fear, before being cut off entirely.

Minutes passed but they felt much longer. He had won. Pet Shop had finally killed the mutt. But no...that wasn't it at all. Pet Shop opened his eyes to see Iggy still staring wide eyed at him. What happened? Was Iggy somehow still alive? Surely he had dealt a lethal blow?

Pet Shop didn't realize what he had done. He hadn't attacked Iggy. He didn't even scratch him. Pet Shop came to understand his position. He'd spread his beak open and pressed it firmly against Iggy's mouth. He...he KISSED HIM?!

Pet Shop drew back in shock, still with his beak agape. He continued to stare at Iggy, unable to process what was happening. Iggy seemed to be just as shocked and neither party could utter a single sound.

Pet Shop leaned in again, still unsure of what he was doing, and kissed Iggy again. His eyelids lowered slightly, and his grip on Iggy loosened. But Iggy didn't run or swat Pet Shop away. He only lowered his eyelids eyes well, and eased them closed. Pet Shop shut his eyes and moved closer to Iggy. The bird's body pressed against Iggy's and after a short while, they broke out of their trance-like state.

They pulled their mouthes away from each other, still lost in the moment saliva dripping slowly from Iggy's mouth. They stared into each other's eyes once more. Not long after, Pet Shop realized what had happened and his eyes widened. He turned away from Iggy and put his wing over his mouth.

Iggy simply looked confused. "W

W-what was that?" Iggy questioned. Pet Shop turned his head just enough to look back at Iggy, still wide eyed, then turned away again. Iggy now had enough energy to stand up. He approached Pet Shop cautiously, still unsure of what was happening. "I thought you wanted to k-kill me?" Iggy said. "That's why you came here...right?"

Pet Shop didn't make a sound.

"Right?" Iggy asked again.

Pet Shop said nothing again. But before Iggy could question any further, Pet Shop finally spoke up.

"At first...I did." He said.

Iggy was surprised. He had never heard Pet Shop speak before. He waited for him to continue. "I've been watching you, you know." Pet Shop said.

"Watching me? ...For how long?" Asked Iggy.

"A few days..." Pet Shop said as he turned towards Iggy. Now he would not look the dog in the eyes.

"Was that you the other night? In my window?" Iggy said.

"Y-yeah..." Pet Shop said embarrassed.

"You could've killed me then...why didn't you?" Iggy said, tilting his head a bit.

"Well...it wouldn't have felt right to me. I wanted to actually fight you again. I watched you mostly in the day time and I don't know why I watched you sleep that night..." Pet Shop explained.

Iggy wasn't sure what to say. He approached Pet Shop a bit more, causing Pet Shop to back up.

Pet Shop turned his head again and looked at the ground at Iggy's feet. "That's not all though...I knew I wouldn't learn anything watching you at night. But I did it anyway. Every night..."

"Every night?" Iggy said. He looked even more confused.

"...I guess I understand why now." Pet Shop said shamefully.

"Hey..." Iggy put tried to reach out for Pet Shop. Pet Shop flinched a bit, causing Iggy to flinch as well. "You know...DIO's been dead for months now...we don't have to be enemies anymore."

Pet Shop stayed quiet. Iggy waited for him to respond. Pet Shop looked at Iggy finally, but not directly into his eyes. "I felt like I failed..." He said. Iggy chuckled softly. "You did, birdbrain. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

Pet Shop took a glance into Iggy's eyes and looked down again. "I...I don't know what to say anymore. I should go."

"Wait." Iggy said. "This might be kinda awkward considering but...do you want to keep following me around today?"

Pet Shop looked surprised. "W...why?"

Iggy smiled at him. "Did you forget already, birdbrain? I said we don't have to be enemies anymore!"

Pet Shop was quiet once more.

"What do you say?" Iggy asked.

After a short time, Pet Shop half smiled softly at Iggy. "I guess I don't have much else to do..." He said.

"Heh, great then! I was heading over to the park but I should get myself patched up." Iggy said.

"S-sorry..." Pet Shop said as if he'd never apologized before.

"Don't worry about it." Iggy said, brushing himself off. "I'll be fine, I swear."

"And could you maybe...stop calling me birdbrain?" Pet Shop asked.

Iggy smiled fiendishly. "Now that's something I can't promise."


End file.
